1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the construction of warheads and, in particular, to a new and useful warhead construction and electrical ignition system for detonating an explosive charge in the warhead which includes an ignition train arranged along the length of a bore centrally positioned within the explosive charge.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, a warhead used against a bunker, ship or similalr target produces its maximum destructive effect when the explosive charge is set off just after the hit wall has been penetrated. Such a delayed detonation can be obtained by an ignition device having a series of igniting charges producing a time delay before the main explosive charge is ignited.
In the known warheads, similar ignition devices are mounted in their entirety in or on the warhead bottom. Such a design proves to be very unsatisfactory sometimes. The drawbacks become most evident if the warhead impinges upon a particularly massive structure such as, for example, a ship wall in the zone of a transverse bracing, or a bunker wall in the zone of a cross-beam. In such cases, only the thick-walled ogive of the head provided with special cutting edges for attacking and penetrating obstacles resists the stresses produced by the impact. In contrast thereto, the shell of the warhead which, in favor of maximizing the content of explosives, is dimensioned for an impact only on target structures having a normal resistance, and which sometimes is even weakened by integrated sections forming projectiles, undergoes deformations. The deformation of the shell due to the impact is frequently so extensive that the bottom of the warhead secured to the shell is torn away along with the entire ignition device before the latter is able to set off the explosive charge.